Overview

From Palestine to Texas in 100 years, this epic family tale follows five generations of Christian women as their family's intimate dramas--full of hope, fear, grief, and joy-- play out against a backdrop of violence that would rip them from their homeland. Leyla King has been a keeper of family stories since long before she sat down across from her grandmother with a tiny cassette tape recorder. And in this beautifully crafted memoir, she braids matriarchal memory into a vivid saga of love and survival as her ancestors flee war and poverty. From Haifa to Ramallah, Damascus, Beirut, and finally Texas, Leyla makes global politics deeply personal as family squabbles, ambition, mental illness, romance, and religion shape their immigrant journey. Narrated in immersive, lyrical vignettes, Daughters of Palestine is both an urgent testimony from Palestinian Christians and a timeless story of resilience. ""We start with laughing now. Now, in the comfort of my own home, with steaming cups of tea before us and the promise of the cookies I made yesterday awaiting us in the kitchen, we share these stories, to be recorded and retained and remembered, with joy and thankfulness. But it wasn't always that way. There was much suffering, too. To get to this place, this moment, with Leylati, there was first pain and heartache and so much loss. . . . We start with laughing now, but before that, first, there was Za'leh."" Last Syllable Book Award Nonfiction (2026)

Full Product Details

9780802884992

Table of Contents

Reviews

""Absolutely riveting. This fast-paced, immersive book reads like a novel and tells the truth of one family's legacy of faith and love through displacements and wars, across decades and continents. A must-read for anyone who loves a great story and is interested in learning about the complexities of a region often misrepresented in the West."" --Jessica Goudeau, author of We Were Illegal: Uncovering a Texas Family's Mythmaking and Migration and After the Last Border: Two Families and the Story of Refuge in America ""Vividly empathetic, Leyla K. King brings her family's tale of survival to life, sharing a direct, clear-eyed account of her grandmother's displacement from Palestine. At this memoir's urgent heart is a celebration of strength and resilience, resonant with a love of language. It follows King's foremothers across decades and nations as they reckon with the exigencies of dispossession and the circumstances of their identity as Palestinian Christians. All who owe their existence to a journey will find something to love in these intricately braided sagas."" --Sarah Cypher, author of The Skin and Its Girl ""Leyla King's Daughters of Palestine is a poignant and fascinating multi-generational tale of a family's flight from Palestine to the United States. Taking the reader from the village of Shafa 'Amr in 1920s British Palestine to Houston, Texas in the present day, with stops in Haifa, Beirut, Damascus and other Middle Eastern cities, the book weaves together family stories of love, hope, and faith. Set against the backdrop of exile and displacement, these tales demonstrate the power of family and faith to help people overcome tragedy. This book is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the experience of Palestinian Christians who are often overlooked in discussions of the Arab-Israeli conflict."" --Nicholas E. Roberts, author of Islam Under the Palestine Mandate ""Daughters of Palestine is a glorious celebration of Palestinian motherhood, sisterhood, and daughterhood. Leyla King's writing sings as she as she narrates the multi-generational epic of her Palestinian Christian family. Chronicling her family's loves and losses from Haifa to Beirut to Damascus to Houston, her beautiful book is testimony to the power of connection, of faith, of home, and above all, of story. An essential book for our times."" --Stephanie Saldaña, author of What We Remember Will Be Saved: A Story of Refugees and the Things They Carry

""Daughters of Palestine is a must-read for Christians today as war and starvation in the Middle East continue to affect the lives of Palestinians, including Palestinian Christians, our brothers and sisters in Christ."" --The Banner ""Absorbing debut memoir . . . Through overlapping vignettes, [King] creates a colorful mosaic of her family's experiences, highlighting their courage, faithfulness, humor, and deep love for one another. Daughters of Palestine illuminates the Palestinian Christian experience and celebrates one family's resilience."" --Shelf Awareness ""King pulls no punches in detailing how seemingly safe harbors for refugees can suddenly become threatening, and vividly captures how her family celebrated life's blessings and endured tumult with the aid of their faith. The result is a powerful narrative of loss, survival, and belief."" --Publishers Weekly ""Absolutely riveting. This fast-paced, immersive book reads like a novel and tells the truth of one family's legacy of faith and love through displacements and wars, across decades and continents. A must-read for anyone who loves a great story and is interested in learning about the complexities of a region often misrepresented in the West."" --Jessica Goudeau, author of We Were Illegal: Uncovering a Texas Family's Mythmaking and Migration and After the Last Border: Two Families and the Story of Refuge in America ""Vividly empathetic, Leyla K. King brings her family's tale of survival to life, sharing a direct, clear-eyed account of her grandmother's displacement from Palestine. At this memoir's urgent heart is a celebration of strength and resilience, resonant with a love of language. It follows King's foremothers across decades and nations as they reckon with the exigencies of dispossession and the circumstances of their identity as Palestinian Christians. All who owe their existence to a journey will find something to love in these intricately braided sagas."" --Sarah Cypher, author of The Skin and Its Girl ""Leyla King's Daughters of Palestine is a poignant and fascinating multi-generational tale of a family's flight from Palestine to the United States. Taking the reader from the village of Shafa 'Amr in 1920s British Palestine to Houston, Texas in the present day, with stops in Haifa, Beirut, Damascus and other Middle Eastern cities, the book weaves together family stories of love, hope, and faith. Set against the backdrop of exile and displacement, these tales demonstrate the power of family and faith to help people overcome tragedy. This book is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the experience of Palestinian Christians who are often overlooked in discussions of the Arab-Israeli conflict."" --Nicholas E. Roberts, author of Islam Under the Palestine Mandate ""Daughters of Palestine is a glorious celebration of Palestinian motherhood, sisterhood, and daughterhood. Leyla King's writing sings as she as she narrates the multi-generational epic of her Palestinian Christian family. Chronicling her family's loves and losses from Haifa to Beirut to Damascus to Houston, her beautiful book is testimony to the power of connection, of faith, of home, and above all, of story. An essential book for our times."" --Stephanie Saldaña, author of What We Remember Will Be Saved: A Story of Refugees and the Things They Carry

Author Information

Leyla K. King is a Palestinian American Episcopal priest and writer. She is a founding member of Palestinian Anglicans and Clergy Allies (Palestiniananglicans.org) and The Small Churches Big Impact Collective (smallchurchesbigimpact.org). Currently, she serves as the Canon for Mission in Small Congregations for the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas.

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